Talent and Patience -Pencil Sculptures

Here's another 'made me stop and look', may be I'll make a series of these. Work like this not only takes talent and passion but an incredible amount patience. Those who know me know that I have the patience and dedication to pursue things I'm passionate about and sometimes may go overboard. But I can definitely say I lack this kind of patience. We're not going to address if I have this level of talent or not (#sheepishgrin).








Any guesses how long it took him to finish this series? I bet no one thought 2.5 years!


The creator of these incredible sculptures is 45-year-old carpenter, Dalton J. Paul Getty. He says, “When I was a schoolboy, I made gifts to my friends, carving out their names on a pencils. Later, I decided to try sculpture, and after a long searching the choice fell on a pencil lead.”

Tidbit: Getty definitely gets attached to his pieces (who wouldn't if you spend all this time on them). He keeps the broken pieces in what he calls the "cemetery collection".

Visit to the Zoo

This was Lil A's second trip to the zoo. For the intent of a zoo a more successful one. Her first trip was in April on a beautiful, crips day in early Spring. The animals were out and 'on parade' as I like to say. Me thinks Lil A was too young (at 15 months). She couldn't care less about the 4 legged species, maintaining focus and enjoying the variety of the 2 legged human species.

At 18 months (what a difference 3 months makes for a toddler) she showed a keen interest in the fauna and repeated after us all the names of the animals. Since this was a much warmer day, a lot of the animals were hiding in shady corners, but a few came out to greet us.


The elephants came out for a meal just as we approached their area.


Rhinos (or Hippos as Lil A remembers them) were out of luck as they did not have a 'shady' spot to hide in.


The Emu ate the whole time we were at the zoo.


The meerkats were happy to be indoors and very playful.

We're now looking forward to the exclusive member Evening at the Zoo in a couple of weeks.

Made me stop and look

How often do you spot something that makes you stop? Stop and look, feel, get excited and take you back to what up love most - for me what I love most is design. Waiting in my inbox this morning from Tom (my boss) was a link to 30 beautiful logo designs. I had to share. Not only are they beautifully executed, they're down right clever. Here are some of my favorites, please check the Ivan's blog to see all.

Love the use of negative space. Like Joel said, once you see it you can't help 'seeing' it.

The graphic of the pencil being below the logo is unexpected. Kudos to the designer.

This took me a second to process, so clever.

I have a feeling @tostina's going to love this one.

Longing for an Umbrella

There are days when I love the rains - days when I get to sit indoors and drink hot cocoa. The monsoons were my favorite season in Bombay. But these days I find the rainy weather annoying - it's hard to lug Lil A, the car seat, a zillion bags while try to keep everything dry.To make matters worse my husband stole my umbrella since he now works in downtown and has a long walk to the office as well!

I know what would make me feel better - this umbrella that I saw in Niagara-on-the-lake. So wish I'd have bought it.

Sagmeister to talk at RIT

Just found out that Stefan Sagmeister is going to be at RIT to talk about 'Design and Happiness'? How cool is that? If you're interested it's open to the public.
Oct 5, 2009
8pm
Ingle Auditorium

Close Up Photography: Nature

You can probably tell by now that I'm a nature, design and photo addict. My friend Jenny aka ljc has inspired me to take super close up photos of flowers. Here's a few I've taken, some along the canal path, others not.



Closeup of Cherry Blossoms


Closeup of Lilacs - at the Rochester Lilac Festival


Closeup of a plant in my yard (yes it's a little blurry - the iPhone needs better picture taking abilities)


Close up of Narcissus from my neighbors yard


Closeup taken at Niagara-on-the-Lake


Closeup of Pine Needles taken in the Poconos

Walk Along the Canal - Inspiration

Regular walks along the canal, have not only helped keep me in shape, de-stressed me and inspired some beautiful photographs but have woven their way into my house too. These painting are proudly displayed at the entrance of our house and bring the outdoors inside.